Picture it: you’re all done designing and laying out a beautiful 500 page book and the client comes back to you and says, “We really need to make those blue subtitles red and delete the book’s title at the bottom of all the right hand pages. Oh, and we need to send it to the printer today.”
Ok, so maybe that’s an extreme example, but can you just see it? Forget today! Changing all those elements on every page would take a century! If only you had set up your master pages and paragraph styles before you started… too bad for you.
Don’t make that mistake again!
As soon as you take your next project into InDesign, set up your master pages and paragraph and character styles!
Master Pages – What are They?
Master pages are used to set up repeating elements like page numbers and running headers or footers.
Master Pages – How to Use Them
Use master pages to contain repeating elements, as mentioned above. You can also create guides for your grid on master pages that will then appear on any document pages that have that master page applied.
Text boxes for copy can be set up on master pages, too, but you’ll have to detach them (Ctrl+Shift+Click on the object) from the master page before you can use them. Once you detach an object from the master page, any changes you make to that object on the master will not apply to the detached object. To reattach an object to the master, select it and go to the arrow button on the Pages Palette, click the arrow and select Remove Selected Local Overrides.
Master Pages – Using Multiple Masters
Layering master elements in different master pages is not uncommon. Sometimes you have several different kinds of pages–pages with lists, pages that have the beginning of an article and pages with the article continuing, for example.
In the example above, you would have a Master Page A with the page numbers and document title runners. Then you would create a new master for the pages that have the beginnings of articles on them and base this new master on Master Page A. You would also create a master page for the continuation of the articles, which would be based on Master Page A, too.
You can layer as many master pages in this fashion as you need to, each building more and more detail into the types of pages you need to create. Don’t get carried away, though, master pages are not where you do the majority of your layout!
Quick tip: in InDesign, if you double click on the name of the master page in the Pages Palette, you will select the whole page. Then, if you go to Layout>Create Guides to set up your grid, it will now be set up on both pages at the same time (the number of columns you set still applies only to one page, though).
Similarly, if you drag out your own guides from the ruler, positioning the cursor outside the page for horizontal guides, the guide will stretch across both pages in a spread, instead of just one.
Applying Master Pages
Ah, yes! The most important part! I almost forgot. You need to apply the master pages to your document pages. There are two ways to apply the master pages:
You can create a new page or spread in the document by selecting the master page(s) (double click on the master name to select the spread) from the top half of the Pages Palette and dragging it down to a blank area or space in between spreads on the bottom half. This creates a new page/spread with the master already applied.
If you already have started working on a layout page and decide you need to apply a new or different master page to it, select the master page/spread from the top of the palette and drag it onto the page you’re working on. Master page items are always below layout page objects in terms of stacking order.
So do you think you have the guts to start switching from Quark to InDesign? In this series we’ll talk about InDesign basics, Paragraph and Character Styles, InDesign Layers and common shortcuts–the keys to really start unlocking InDesign’s power.
Do you need more help with InDesign? Feel free to leave a comment below, contact me or head over to Lynda.com and sign up for their InDesign Tutorials. It’s only $25/mo for unlimited access! This is a resource I use myself and I highly recommend it. You can get a free 24 hour pass to lynda.com, now too! Just follow that link.
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I like this series, Lauren. It’s amazing–one can use these applications for years, and yet still discover so many “new” features.
Like the image, BTW.
Heheh, great image, huh? I feel like that sometimes when dealing with clients! I’m glad you like my InDesign articles! Do you use ID or Quirk?
I’m working on putting those Photoshop shortcuts into a handy PDF. I’m still deciding on how I want it to look, but I hope to have it done by Friday. I know I’m a little late on getting it out to you guys :/
Excellent tips! I don’t have much cause to use InDesign (Photoshop and Illustrator are almost constantly running), but I actually really would like to. (I may have a problem. Every day I look at that little ID icon in my QuickLaunch bar, and my heart beats a little faster…) I’ll be coming back here regularly so that I’m equipped for that glorious day I need to use InDesign!…
Hi Alec! Wow! Two converts from iLT in one day! I have Photoshop and InDesign pretty much constantly up. I think that most people who are not familiar with ID tend to use either Illy or PS for page layout. That’s fine, it works, but you have so much more control with InDesign. I do my comps/mocks in PS (I’m actually not that good with Illy, I’ve lost my skill from not using it) and then export images and lay everything back out in ID.
So besides font design, you are a web developer? Does that include graphic/web design? I’ve really enjoyed your articles on So You Want to Create a Font and So You Want to Create a Font, Part 2. You really add a lot to iLT and I hope you’ll enhance our community here too
Thanks, Lauren. I’m a web developer, mostly, but that doesn’t stop me from trying to be a designer. In an alternate universe, I’m good at it. In this universe, well,… I try my best.
Hehehe, well Johno likes your fonts, and I think that says a lot about your skills! I don’t think I would have the creativity to design fonts, even after reading your excellent posts about it (and that’s nothing to say about your skills as a teacher, it’s just me).
me again. dont blame me im just a student! i set up the guides and want to add the text. the text doesent fix the columms when i use only the guides, and when try to use both (both guidelines and both setting up with numeric values in document setup and margins setup) i see a little offset……. found an indesign yeeeah!
Student102,
Being a student has nothing to do with it! Even professionals have questions about software they’ve never used. You shouldn’t need to manually set guidelines at all. Use one of the dialog boxes from either document setup or Layout>Margins and Columns. Then make sure snap to guides is on: View>Grids and Guides>Snap to Guide. When you adjust your text box now, it should snap to the guides and there shouldn’t be any offset. I hope that is a legal copy of InDesign you’ve obtain…
Your site has a lot of great info on InDesign. I am having a problem with master pages in my documnet. I’t s very long document with a listing of doctor’s names and info. I work on the document, import text, etc. Then I need to reapply a master, bu the problem is when I do that another set of text boxes is on top of the text boxes I have modified. Is ther any way to reattach text boxes to the master once they have been modified.
Thanks for your help!
Diana
Diana,
There’s no way that I know of to reattach the text box to the master after it’s been modified because if you reattach it, your modifications will be void (you CAN reattach, but I don’t think you’ll like the results). You could always delete the text boxes from your master page so they don’t show up again on your layout pages. Make a copy of your master page with the text boxes, delete them, and apply that new master to your layout pages you already modified.
Lauren,
As I am reading through your articles a computer other than my system that I work on I am getting a little lost. I’m looking at ID because I have chosen to self-publish some of my writings (insane ramblings of a madman nothing important). Many have recommended staying away from MS Word (duh!) for my publications. I’m a web app developer and general graphic designer albeit not the best at it yet. I was hoping you could possibly help me out some with ID as I have 0 knowledge in it! Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and FLASH are my domain of power in the Adobe suite. While your articles appear to be for the beginners they seem to be too short and move to quickly unless your sitting at the software toying with it at that time. I’m not worried about images (I do cover design in PS) but I would like to setup something where I simply start typing and ID formats (based on my specifications) automatically and moves to next pages as needed. Any help would make me very happy and allow my to have a better quality for my book publications (which will be on Lulu.com). Please feel free to email me any suggestions you may have… or even links to articles more specific to my needs.
~A helpless programmer/designer
Synycyl,
Well, the idea of most tutorials is that you follow along in the program while reading the tut.
InDesign is a design program, not a word processor. If you’re just writing a manuscript you probably should do it in Word and then import it into InDesign for styling. If you use standard styles (Header 1, Header 2, etc) InDesign can maintain your formatting.
The problem I keep having is that when I set up a second master page- ‘B-Master’- and apply its template to one page, Indesign keeps applying that template to all subsequent pages. How can I restrict the application of this master to a single, or maybe only a few pages per document? Or would you reccommend not using a master for this end and just repeating the process manually on the page for every instance?
James,
InDesign will apply the last master applied to the page to each new page you create. So after you add a new page, apply Master A and now when you add another new page, it should automatically apply Master A to that new page. If you’ve applied Master B to a page that is not the last page created (maybe the Master B page was a few pages back), though, InDesign should still continue to apply Master A to your new pages.